“Moody’s sheer delight with language and his clever turns of phrase hint at a sense of wonder and hope, while his Knausgaardian introspection leaves him contemplating the intersection of fate and magic, recognizing that good fortune seems preordained while transcending tragedy requires something magical, namely, the power of love.”–Booklist

WADE IN THE WATER by Tracy K. Smith
US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith returns with WADE IN THE WATER, a new collection of poems that feels both timely and timeless. In lines that are as lyrical as they are wise (and so poignant you’ll want to write them down immediately), Smith makes connections between the current state of American culture and its history — police brutality, slavery, immigration, the Civil War, the Declaration of Independence (which she turns into an erasure poem). What does it mean to be an American, to be a woman in a society still dominated by men? Smith captures memories, found language, music, and the voices of the past to get to the beating heart of our nation today — and you’ll feel it in every fiber of your being while reading.

A LUCKY MAN by Jamel Brinkley
The nine stories in Jamel Brinkley’s collection A LUCKY MAN are about black men grappling with their place in the world, their pasts, their friendships, and their families — boys coming of age and encountering firsthand how privilege is tied to race and class, brothers navigating strained relationships, parents and children disappointing each other. Brinkley shows both the great beauty and ugliness of humanity — but always with empathy — and captures the ways in which our world is defined and divided by power. A LUCKY MAN so real and alive, much like its characters, that you’ll be eager to read whatever Brinkley writes next.

EYE LEVEL by Jenny Xie
US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Hererra chose Jenny Xie as the winner of the Academy of American Poets’ 2017 Walt Whitman Award, and it’s easy to see why in her debut collection EYE LEVEL. Xie’s poems take us on a journey to new places (Vietnam, Cambodia, even a Greek island) in such vivid detail that you’ll feel as if you really traveled, as well as to new questions about immigration, identity, and loneliness. How do we really find home? What do we lose when we leave? Reading EYE LEVEL feels like taking a trip with someone who truly sees you, and the world, as it is. readmoreremove

Best of 2017 has come and gone, now here are the most anticipated books of 2018, according to major media:

THE HAZEL WOOD by Melissa Albert
One of the most anticipated debuts of the year — having set off an auction frenzy — THE HAZEL WOOD is a contemporary fantasy of an aggressively literary bent, centered on a 17-year-old whose mother is stolen away.

LOOK ALIVE OUT THERE by Sloane Crosley
Crosley may have put essays aside for her 2015 novel THE CLASP, but she returns with her particular brand of sardonic wit in this new collection. The tone, she told EW, is “somewhere between jaded misanthrope and easily amused child.”

A HIGHER LOYALTY: Truth, Lies and Leadership by James Comey
What will James Comey reveal in this anticipated memoir? Publisher Flatiron Books isn’t giving much away, just saying that the former FBI director promises to give a vital lesson on sound leadership, drawing on his own experiences to provide a manual that certain world leaders desperately need.

THE WIFE BETWEEN US by Greer Hendricks & Sarah PekkanenWhat it’s about: In this twisty psychological thriller, a woman dumped by her rich husband is determined to prevent his remarriage to her “replacement.”Why it’s hot: Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, which brought THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN to the big screen, has picked up film rights for THE WIFE BETWEEN US.

A HIGHER LOYALTY: Truth, Lies and Leadership by James Comey
What it’s about: The former FBI director, famously fired by President Trump in May, writes a book about leadership based on his own experiences and observations in government.Why it’s hot: According to the publisher, Comey’s book will examine what “good, ethical leadership looks like and how it drives sound decisions.” The burning question: What will he say about Trump?

A HIGHER LOYALTY: Truth, Lies and Leadership by James Comey
The former FBI director — fired by President Trump and now, some say, a Zen-like master of throwing subtle shade on Twitter and Instagram — inked what was reported to be a multi-million dollar book deal in August. The book’s publisher has said the book by Comey, also a former Justice Department official and lawyer, promises to give readers “unprecedented entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in leadership itself.” Comey, who frequently uses social media to share quotations about character, justice, leadership and power, tweeted an image of the Statue of Liberty on Dec. 5, saying he was in New York to meet with his publisher, with the note: “Hope leadership book will be useful. Reassuring to see Lady Liberty standing tall even in rough weather.”

THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah
A Vietnam POW returns from overseas and opts to relocate his family to a remote area of Alaska, far removed from the threats of war-torn societies, for a fresh start. All seems well until his PTSD kicks in during the harsh winter and turns their tiny cabin dream into a living nightmare.

LOOK ALIVE OUT THERE by Sloane Crosley
If accolades from Steve Martin and David Sedaris are any indication, Sloane Crosley’s new collection of essays delivers, with hilarious takes on fertility, mingling with swingers, and her blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo on Gossip Girl.

OLIVER LOVING by Stefan Merrill Block
Oliver Loving has been paralyzed and locked in his own mind for nearly a decade, the result of a shooting in his small Texas town. In Stefan Merrill Block’s psychologically astute novel, the damaged people that surround Oliver try to piece together their own versions of what happened that night and since then, even as doctors prepare a new treatment that might help Oliver communicate again.

THE HAZEL WOOD by Melissa Albert
Here is one of those rare young adult fantasy novels that holds a self-contained world in only a few hundred pages. So much world-building, so little space. If the novel’s heroine is a teenage girl, then her story will appeal to readers of all ages, with its intrigue and strange fairy tale magic and very grown up writing.

WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? by Marilynne Robinson
Even in her fiction, Marilynne Robinson has a nonjudgmental, earnest way of writing about religion that could make an atheist long for spirituality. President Obama is a fan. In this essay collection theology and current events and philosophy take center stage, and it’s through the clarity of Robinson’s words that hope in times of political strife feels appropriate and urgent.

SOME HELL by Patrick Nathan
A heartbreaker of a book, Patrick Nathan’s debut novel captures the hell of adolescence under particularly dire circumstances: Colin is reeling from his father’s suicide even as he navigates coming of age as a gay teenager. As they are wont to do, sex and death dominate Colin’s thoughts as he makes his way, in agony but with an eye towards a hopeful future.

THREE DAUGHTERS OF EVE by Elif Shafak
From the most widely read female writer in Turkey, here’s a novel that sees violence and nostalgia vie for one woman’s attention on one intense night. In Istanbul, a relatively minor crime—an attempted robbery—sparks a wave of memories as the wealthy Peri ponders an old photograph of her college friends. As terrorist attacks break out, the religious and cultural differences between the three women demand her attention in the fraught present.

WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele
Patrisse Khan-Cullors co-founded one of the most vital activist groups of recent years. Now, get to the heart of Black Lives Matter with her account of how the movement began, and marvel at the brilliance and persistence of her mission despite a continuing lack of understanding and compassion from many.

PEACH by Emma Glass
In the wake of a horrific sexual assault, titular protagonist Peach attempts to navigate a life that has tilted on its axis. As accounts of sexual assault and misconduct have arisen in recent months, our inability to reckon with such events and their aftermath has only become more clear. This short novel—under 100 pages—confronts the enormity with impressionistic grace.

FORCE OF NATURE by Jane Harper
Wow, this crime novel just gave me my newest nightmare: Five colleagues go on a hike (first mistake), and one doesn’t return. Four different stories makes it hard for Agent Aaron Falk (whom we met in Harper’s debut, THE DRY) to discern the truth. Don’t read this one during the workweek.

WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE? by Marilynne Robinson
Equipped with a heart and mind that seem more capacious than ours (though she might have a match in fan Barack Obama), Marilynne Robinson has made a career out of writing life-expanding novels and wonderings, like Pulitzer Prize–winning novel GILEAD. Soon, she’ll give us a new set of essays about faith, life, and culture. readmoreremove

*Nominations are due May 20! Click here for the full list of 2017 deadlines.

THE BREAKDOWN by B.A. ParisA Library Journal Spring 2017 Editors’ Pick with two starred reviews! A woman who believes she was a witness to a crime obsesses over whether she could have prevented a death, while fearing for her sanity. “This psychological thriller is even harder to put down than Paris’ 2016 best-seller debut [and LibraryReads pick] BEHIND CLOSED DOORS; schedule reading time accordingly. With two in a row, Paris moves directly to the thriller A-list.” — Booklist, starred review

Available on NetGalley. To be pre-approved for an e-galley, please email library@macmillanusa.com with the subject “Breakdown.”*

DOWN A DARK ROAD by Linda Castillo
In the electrifying ninth thriller in the New York Timesbestselling series (AMONG THE WICKED was a July 2016 LibraryReads pick), a convicted murderer is on the run and Chief of Police Kate Burkholder must catch him before he strikes again. “Castillo works in fine details and insight into Amish life, but this is no gentle read—there is plenty of tension and some good red herrings that will keep any mystery reader satisfied.” — Booklist

Download the e-galley from Edelweiss

PARADISE VALLEY by C.J. Box
When ND investigator Cassie Dewell’s latest plan to catch a serial killer called the Lizard King backfires, she finds herself jobless. When a troubled boy disappears, his grandmother urges Cassie to find him. With nothing else to do, she agrees, all while planning a new trap for the Lizard King. “Box’s many fans will devour this dark thriller, which is sure to be another hit for the author.” — Library Journal

Download the e-galley from Edelweiss

THE DARK DARK by Samantha Hunt
“These short stories are works of dark, dark magic that skitter between worlds both recognizable and wholly new. Fans of Hunt’s work (MR. SPLITFOOT, 2016, etc.) will revel in her first story collection, which marries her signature flare for the fantastic with keen observation and sharp prose. Grab your comforter and a flashlight for this tour de force collection from one of our most inventive storytellers.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewreadmoreremove